Alisha Sevigny's Blog, page 7

What Happens To Your Couple After The Last Page Is Turned … Secrets to Relationship Success

Last week I had the privilege of doing a guest post for Apryl Baker’s Romance Blogfest 2015. I wanted to look at what makes a relationship last, both on and off the page. So at my grandparents’ 60th anniversary I asked them what their advice was for couples. They had some pretty cute things to say. Check out the full post here and don’t forget to enter the giveaway to win a copy of the ebook (US) and signed paper copy (CAN). Also, feel free to check out all the other great authors being featured this month (and their great giveaways) and find a new book to fall in love with!.

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Getting the Creative Juices Flowing: Are More Brains Better Than One? Zombies Think So.

Last week I had the good fortune to be invited to speak at a teen writing workshop with friend and fellow writer Angela Misri. I was amazed by their enthusiasm and creativity, especially when we put them into groups and got them to come up with a story idea, then pitch it to us. Some pretty hilarious concepts ensued, the winner being an abominable snowman and sasquatch who fell in love online and whose epic meet-up is threatened by climate change as the polar ice caps melt. (Another mention was Heil Humpty, about a sentient, Nazi-sympathizing, man-eating egg à la Little Shop of Horrors – don’t ask).

Anyway, silliness aside, it got me thinking how important it is to have people we can bounce our ideas off of. Too often, writing is a solitary process. We spend all day at our computers surfing the net and social media creating and there’s no one around, except maybe the cat or the mailman, who we can get an opinion from.

Sometimes writers also fear that their ideas will be stolen. When I was a literary agent I encountered this frequently. A few people were even afraid to send in their manuscript in its entirety for fear of being plagiarized (this almost never happens). Also, sometimes we’re afraid of sharing because we don’t want our ideas or writing to be judged. We want to perfect things before anyone sees them. This might work for some but I say the sooner the feedback, the better. If you spend months and years tweaking something and then a reader points out that it doesn’t work/make sense/serve the story, think of all the time and effort that could have been saved.

Writers shouldn’t let things things like this keep them and their work isolated. Of course, if that’s how you prefer things, then that’s great. Personally, I’m a social creature and like having others I can hash things out with, whether online, or in a real physical location.

What about you? What’s your process?

xoxo

Alisha

 

 

 

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Save the Frogs Day!

We have a lot of great stuff going on in honour of Save the Frogs Day!

Over at my awesome US publishers Swoon Romance, there’s a giveaway going on on Instagram where all you have to do is follow @swoonromance for a chance to win a free ebook of Kissing Frogs. Plus, for all you aspiring authors out there, it comes with the chance to get feedback on your own story pitch/query! The contest is open to US/Canada residents and to enter you must share the Instagram post, as well as comment below answering this question: If you had to kiss a frog for it to become your Prince Charming who would that Prince Charming be? The comp ends May 9th and there will be one winner!

Also, my amazing Canadian publishers have graciously reduced the price of Kissing Frogs on Kobo and iTunes to $4.99 (that’s only the price of a latte!) in honour of today, so make sure to snag your copy. And say you’re a 32-year-old male who maybe doesn’t happen to read romances (no judging if you do!), buy one anyway and feel good that a portion of your purchase will be donated to Save the Frogs foundation.

Thanks everyone for taking part and helping to Save the Frogs!

xoxo

Alisha

 

 

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Happy Earth Day – The Ripple Effect

I wanted to write an incredibly poignant, inspiring post for Earth Day. In the rare moments where one of my children didn’t happen to be spilling something, cutting a tooth, or having a tantrum because her shoes don’t velcro tightly enough, I sat and pondered what I should say. I knew it had to be amazing.

But not having slept through the night for the past nine months (still love you, buddy), I knew that it wasn’t going to be amazing. Heck, I’m so sleep deprived the last two emails I sent to bookstores had typos in them. TYPOS. And me, a writer. I started feeling overwhelmed. After all, conservation of our planet is one of my “things”, so much so that it’s a major theme throughout Kissing Frogs. The pressure I was putting on myself crippled me, until I thought. “Forget it, don’t bother.” And so I didn’t write the post.

Until now.

See, I know this post isn’t going to be amazing. And that’s okay. Because something floated to the top of consciousness during my hot yoga class last night. (Sweating in a hot and humid room next to half-naked strangers always has a way of making things clearer).

What came to me was this: “If you wait until you can do everything for everybody, instead of something for somebody, you’ll end up doing nothing for nobody.”**

This quote (not mine) can be applied to every aspect of life. For writers, if you wait until the story is perfect before putting it down, it won’t get written. It’s also perfect for Earth Day. Sometimes it’s easy to be overwhelmed. The polar ice caps are melting, hundreds of species are going extinct every day, seas are rising, and things like fire, floods and drought are becoming the norm. But even small changes have the power to make a difference. Things like being careful with how much water you use, how much stuff you buy, how much meat you eat, all add up.

This Earth Day until Saturday, April 25th (Save the Frogs Day), the Kissing Frogs e-book (Kobo/iTunes/Amazon) will be on sale in Canada and I will be donating a portion of book sales to Save the Frogs! If you happen to purchase a book that day, feel free to contact me. It’s just a small thing, I know. But wait, here’s another quote:

“We each have within ourselves the ability to shape our own destinies. That much we understand. But, more important, each of us has an equal ability to shape the destiny of the universe. Ah, that you find more difficult to believe. But I tell you it is so. You do not have to be the leader of the Council. You do not have to be king or monarch or the head of a clan to have a significant impact on the world around you. In the vastness of the ocean, is any drop of water greater than another? No, you answer, and neither has a single drop the ability to cause a tidal wave.  But, I argue, if a single drop falls into the ocean, it creates ripples. And these ripples spread. And perhaps – who knows – these ripples may grow and swell and eventually break foaming upon the shore.  Like a drop in the vast ocean, each of us causes ripples as we move through our lives. The effects of whatever we do – insignificant as it may seem – spread out beyond us. We may never know what far-reaching impact even the simplest action might have on our fellow mortals. Thus we need to be conscious, all of the time, of our place in the ocean, of our place in the world, of our place among our fellow creatures. For if enough of us join forces, we can swell the tide of events – for good or for evil.” -Margaret  Weis

Don’t let fear paralyze you from doing the little things and making a ripple. Don’t become indifferent or fatalistic or hopeless.

Don’t give up. There is still hope.

**When I googled to see who came up with the quote, I was taken to Ashton Kutcher’s Facebook page. Knowing that couldn’t be right, I dug a little deeper (search result number three), and came up with the name Malcolm Bane. Feel free to google him if you’re interested, though Ashton has better pictures.

xoxo

 

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This one’s for the girls…

Last month I had the pleasure of writing a post for Dear Teen Me, an awesome blog where authors write letters to their teen selves. I figured it would be easy, I had so much to say. After a few weeks of pondering and coming up with a few different ideas, I ended up writing about how my teen self shouldn’t be afraid to stand up for herself. And then I spent about a month editing it. It was surprisingly hard to write. During my wavering back and forth about the post I ended up writing another letter. I was inspired by the book I’m working on now that features a great sister-brother relationship. And though I’m a few days late for National Siblings Day (seriously, when was this holiday invented?) I wanted to share it here because I think it’s great advice for anyone with younger siblings. Please note, if you read my Dear Teen me post, I used the same opening paragraph and I’m too lazy to change it, so feel free to skip.

Dear Alisha,

Hey there, you boy-crazy, Roxette-loving, lip-syncing maniac. Oh, the drama of it all: friends and frenemies, rumors and romance, heartbreak and histrionics. I’m trying to think of some sage advice to give you, but as I attempt for the 27th time to write this letter, I don’t think you should (even if you could) change a thing. Because each mistake, each mortifying moment, each cringe-worthy episode in your life has made you who you are today (not to mention provided ample material for your future writing career).

However, there is one thing, that should I stumble upon a time machine, I would like you to alter and that is how you treat two people.

Two people that, while mostly insignificant to you at this point in your life (when they’re not being complete and utter pains in the ass), happen to be your sisters.

Ugh. I know, right? Wrong.

Maybe it’s all the “Frozen” we’ve watched that has us thinking about this, but both these girls who take equal turns pestering, annoying and infuriating you, eventually turn out to be two incredible women that we will be so thankful to have in our life.

“But wait,” you say. “They take all my stuff.”

Relax. It’s stuff. And years later you won’t really remember what they took. But you will remember the look on your sister’s face when you ripped that flower barrette out of her hair.

“They always start it.” Maybe. Maybe not. Yes, living in close quarters with one bathroom can cause some friction. But the physical closeness now will result in emotional closeness later. I promise.

“But the older one and I just don’t get along.”

So work at it. Spend a little time with her. Teach her how to do her make-up but that she doesn’t need it to be beautiful and that she is worthy of being loved.

“And the younger one is just plain evil.”

She’s not evil. She’s thirteen. She will also turn out to be one of the sweetest people you know and later, when you two live together, you will become the best of friends.

Actually, you will become more than that, you will become sisters. And there is no stronger bond. So don’t take if for granted. Be kind to them. Appreciate them. And know how lucky you are to have both of them in your life.

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Thrice Burned! Author Angela Misri Talks About Relationships in her YA Mystery Series

I’m so thrilled to be a part of the “Thrice Burned” blog tour! Out tomorrow (yay!). This is the second book in a stellar Young Adult mystery series featuring savvy sleuth, Portia Adams (who may or may not be the granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler – you’ll have to read the first book “Jewel of the Thames” to know for sure ).

Today author Angela Misri talks about relationships and romance in her novels and how your writing can take you to unexpected places … Leave a comment on her blog post and be entered to won a e-copy of Thrice Burned!

This seemed like an appropriate blog to talk about relationships and romance since it seems to come so easily to Alisha (at least in Kissing Frogs) and is more of a struggle for me in my writing.

Like Portia Adams, I am not great in social situations. I have a short-list of best friends whom I’ve had for decades, and a slightly longer list of acquaintances and am quite happy with that. Now I’m also a lot older than Portia, so she’s just starting down that path of making friends and learning about relationships.

When I first started writing about my young Canadian detective, I intended her to be one half of a detective duo, directly emulating that impregnable relationship enjoyed by the first famous Baker Street residents – Holmes and Watson. Her other half was going to be Annie Coleson – a brash young reporter who would be the foil to Portia’s more sedate and focused life. She would ‘bring the fun’ to the friendship and Portia would provide the balance. What I didn’t expect was that in writing about Brian Dawes, whom I intended to be the Lestrade-type figure in my books, I found a more worthy partnership. The more I wrote about Brian, the more I found drawn to his interactions with Portia, and the kind of strength and loyalty that just ebbed out of him.

Before I knew it, I had written Annie out of the first book and replaced her with Brian – who was not going to be Portia’s Watson at all, but a whole different archetype altogether – someone she would rely on and look to as an equal. By the time we get to Thrice Burned my readers will find (as I did in the writing of it) that Annie and Brian together will form the ‘Watson’ character. Unfortunately for Portia, they also discover each other as potential sweethearts. Just when Portia is starting to figure out her attraction to Brian, he turns his brown eyes towards the winsome Annie. Ah well, such is life!

Because Portia is such a focused character, and because the reader is following the stories through her eyes (rather than through the more sensitive Watson voice in the original canon) I struggle as a writer to bring emotion onto the page. I’ve been experimenting with writing Jewel of the Thames from Brian’s point of view through Wattpad, and I have to say, it’s a lot easier for me to do because he is better in tune with his emotions.

But I don’t want you to worry too much about our girl detective – Gavin Whitaker steps into the crime scene with eyes set on Portia Adams. He is more like Holmes than even Portia is, analytical, brilliant, cold and calculating. But he is also the most challenging mind she has ever encountered and that is an attraction Portia can’t fight.

I think there is a lot more emotion and love on the pages of a book like Kissing Frogs, but I swear to you, there is a lot going on behind closed doors at Baker Street! Now I just need to get better at opening that door for my readers and peeking in at the affairs within.

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How are those NY’s Resolutions coming along?

So, um, I haven’t posted anything in over a month. I’ve made several New Year’s resolutions (writing more, working out more, etc) and it’s the only one I haven’t been following through on. I’m thinking if I put it out there in the webiverse, it will hold me more accountable. So here goes.

“Ahem, ahem (clears throat) I, Alisha Sevigny, do solemnly swear to post on my blog once a week. On Tuesdays. And if I’m feeling especially motivated, twice a week. Perhaps a second on Sundays? For now though, we’ll start with once a week.”

Okay.

Now, it’s Wednesday today but in show of good faith I’ll write a quick catch-up of some of the things I’ve been working on.

My guest blog I Kissed a Frog and I liked It (The Appeal of the Bad Boy) appeared today on Dragon Blog: Sassy Sisters on Fire. It was so much fun to write and a special thanks to Jen and Mel for having me! If you love fantasy romance, check out Mel’s Fire of Stars and Dragons series.

TeenReads had a brief blurb on my literary crush. It was awesome to be featured with some of my fellow authors, and my name was above Melissa de la Cruz’s! So thrilling – love her Witches of East End series.

I also found out I’ll be participating in Romance Blogfest 2015 with a ton of other really great authors – exciting!

And as a special treat, in honour of the romantic month that is February, Kissing Frogs is available on iTunes in Canada for just $0.99 from now until Feb 20th! It’s also available for all my lovely American peeps for $0.99 on Amazon.com, so make sure to snap up your copy if you haven’t already.

Whew. That wasn’t so hard. It only took a month to do ;(

xoxo

Alisha

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It’s February; how are those NY’s Resolutions coming along?

So, um, I haven’t posted anything in over a month. I’ve made several New Year’s resolutions (writing more, working out more, etc) and it’s the only one I haven’t been following through on. I’m thinking if I put it out there in the webiverse, it will hold me more accountable. So here goes.

“Ahem, ahem (clears throat) I, Alisha Sevigny, do solemnly swear to post on my blog once a week. On Tuesdays. And if I’m feeling especially motivated, twice a week. Perhaps a second on Sundays? For now though, we’ll start with once a week.”

Okay.

Now, it’s Wednesday today but in show of good faith I’ll write a quick catch-up of some of the things I’ve been working on.

My guest blog I Kissed a Frog and I liked It (The Appeal of the Bad Boy) appeared today on Dragon Blog: Sassy Sisters on Fire. It was so much fun to write and a special thanks to Jen and Mel for having me! If you love fantasy romance, check out Mel’s Fire of Stars and Dragons series.

TeenReads had a brief blurb on my literary crush. It was awesome to be featured with some of my fellow authors, and my name was above Melissa de la Cruz’s! So thrilling – love her Witches of East End series.

I also found out I’ll be participating in Romance Blogfest 2015 with a ton of other really great authors – exciting!

And as a special treat, in honour of the romantic month that is February, Kissing Frogs is available on iTunes in Canada for just $0.99 from now until Feb 20th! It’s also available for all my lovely American peeps for $0.99 on Amazon.com, so make sure to snap up your copy if you haven’t already.

Whew. That wasn’t so hard. It only took a month to do ;(

xoxo

Alisha

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Northwest BC Book Tour and 2014 Wrap Up!

It’s been a busy few weeks up in beautiful BC, combining business with pleasure as I visited my family in Kitimat and did some touring for Kissing Frogs around the Northwest.

We started off in Terrace at The Elephant’s Ear Cafe and then went to Smithers, a cute ski town in the Bulkley Valley for a reading/Q&A at their library and a signing at Two Sister’s Cafe. The highlight there was a young girl named Emily who had me read a short story of hers, which showed tremendous talent.

When I told her that she lit up like a Christmas tree; it was so rewarding to see the power that encouraging words can have on a young person.

We held a mini launch in my hometown of Kitimat for friends and family and then had a great event at the library with a Q&A and a reading; not to mention free pizza, generously provided by the library.

Coming home for the holidays has been a great experience. Noisy and crowded, but great. I’m reminded of the fun of growing up in a small town where you run into various family members in grocery stores and it takes twice as long to shop there because you stop to chat for twenty minutes with every third person.

Another awesome thing about growing up in a small town is that everyone in it is kind of like family. Some you’re closer with than others, but when it comes down to it, you’d have each other’s backs in a heartbeat. Everyone here has been so supportive so I want to say a special thank-you to everyone for all their support!

It’s been a busy 2014 with a new book, a new baby and a new house and I’m looking forward to getting back to writing as things slow down a bit. My family and I are heading to Mexico for some sun, sand and relaxation for a few months. I’m going to be trying to blog regularly so stay tuned for our adventures in Cabo!

Happy new year to you and yours and may 2015 be full of light, laughter and love.

xoxo

Alisha

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Upcoming Events for Kissing Frogs

So much has happened in the last month, I barely feel like I’ve had time to breathe! The Kissing Frogs book launch took place in Toronto at College Street Bar. A special thank you to everyone who came out to show their support.

The venue was perfect, the cupcakes delicious, and guests were treated to a special reading by my husband and I, which somehow came across a bit … offside?

Alongside all the marketing and promotion an author must do these days, our family has moved houses and taken a tumultuous trip over 3,000 miles to be with my family for the holidays, before embarking on a two and half month pat leave in Los Cabos. Did I mention I have a new baby?

I’m happy to finally be settled in my hometown of Kitimat, BC for a few weeks and looking forward to some great events coming up.

I’m so excited to be speaking at Mt. Elizabeth Secondary on Thursday (my old high school!) as well as for the book launch at the Legion this upcoming Friday, the 19th at 7pm.

Next Monday at 1 pm will be a fun reading/signing and creative writing event at the Kitimat Public Library – there will even be free pizza! And then we have two great events in Smithers, Dec 20th. A creative writing workshop/reading at the Smithers Library at 1pm then over to a reading and signing at Two Sisters Cafe. All events are open to the public. Feel free to drop by and say hi!

xoxo,

Alisha

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